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iPod fingered in car inferno

Saab torched, Apple roasted

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Swedish Saab operatives are eyeing with suspicion an iPod Nano which may have been responsible for the fiery destruction of an unoccupied Saab, the Hallandsposten reports.

The 9-3 station wagon was "parked and its engine was cold when it suddenly caught fire", the paper explains. The owner just had time to rescue the family mutt from the inferno before the flames consumed his vehicle.

A subsequent probe determined the blaze was "not deliberately set", but rather "caused by a technical malfunction, or by negligence".

The fire is reckoned to have started between the two front seats, where there were "two iPods, a camera, and a mobile phone".

Saab dealer Bengt-Erik Johansson suggested: “Technicians discovered heat damage on the interior of the music player. They suspect the damage was likely caused by overheated electronics."

However, a Saab spokesman cautioned: “There was electronic equipment in the car’s middle console. We have examined it. There were signs of interior heat damage in it. But that doesn’t necessarily mean the fire was caused by it.”

Apple operatives are apparently examining the iPod in question to see if it did indeed spontaneously combust. ®